The increasing popularity and availability of portable electronic devices has resulted in an increasing demand for cable and cord management solutions for such portable electronic devices, which include MP3 and other music players, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like. In use, a user commonly holds or wears the portable electronic device and such device comes with an ear phone which is positioned in the user's ear. The ear phone has a flexible lengthy cable that generally extends from the ear mounted ear phone to the portable electronic device to couple the signal from the portable electronic device to the earphone. When left unmanaged, the various headphone cables, power cables, and other cables used by such portable electronic devices and the like tend to become tangled and disorganized, especially when transported. Untangling such cables prior to use becomes time consuming and potentially leads to a situation in which such cables can become permanently tangled, caught on other objects, broken, or disengaged from the portable electronic device.
Moreover, electrically powered products such as appliances, tools, etc., are commonly equipped with an elongated power cord adapted for removable plug-in connection to an appropriate power source. In this regard, the power cord is typically provided with a sufficient length to accommodate anticipated normal use requirements, with the result that the cord has an unsightly excessive length which can become entangled in some applications. Moreover, when the electrical product is disconnected from a power source, difficulties are often encountered in wrapping the cord to a compact and neatly stored configuration ready for a subsequent use with minimum risk of cord entanglement. Alternately, although the cord might be neatly coiled for storage, unsatisfactory storage conditions often result in the cord becoming tangled prior to re-use of the electrical product or excessive wear to the cord causing premature cracking or failure. Similar problems arise with respect to electrical extension cords used to extend the length of a power cord for an electrical product.
A variety of devices have been proposed for use in retaining all or part of a cord in a neatly stored configuration. Such devices have included various tie strap structures designed to be tied about a coiled cord, particularly for maintaining a neat and attractive cord appearance when the electrical product is new. However, these tie straps have been intended to be discarded when the electrical product is first used. Another style of wrap devices is a reel or spool, designed for winding the cord thereabout, again for maintaining the cord in an untangled state especially for ease of use without having to untangle the cord prior to use. Moreover, tie straps and wrap devices are not designed for permanent attachment to an associated cord, such that the strap or wrap device is physically separated from the cord during normal use and thus easily becomes lost or resulting in the cord becoming tangled and disorganized.
Therefore, it is readily apparent that there is a recognizable unmet need for a cable management system and method of use for wrapping and tying a cable or the like, wherein the cable management system is integrated with the cable and, thereby, prevents the cable from becoming tangled and disorganized between uses, ready for a subsequent use with minimum risk of cord entanglement or separation of the cable management system from the cord.